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“AI-Caused Great Depression”: 67 People Share 10-Year Predictions That Society Is Not Ready For
You never know for sure what the future holds. After all, things can change in an instant. One moment, everything may seem perfectly fine, only for it to fall apart. Another, things may look pretty bleak, then somehow work out anyway. Still, it’s only natural to be curious about what might be waiting around the corner.
So when one Redditor asked users to share what they think is highly likely to happen in the next 10 years that everyone is completely ignoring, people had a lot to say. Their answers reveal as much about the future as they do about how we feel about the world right now. Spoiler: optimism is in short supply. Scroll down to read them and let us know whether you agree.
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#1
The complete [end of] trust in anything we see or hear online.
Everyone is talking about AI taking jobs, but no one is preparing for the fact that within 5 to 10 years, video and audio generation will be so flawless, cheap, and instant that you won't be able to trust anything.
Phone scams will use a perfect replica of your mom’s voice asking for money. Political campaigns will feature high-definition, completely fake footage of candidates doing terrible things released hours before an election. We are moving into an era where "seeing is believing" is officially non-existing, and society is absolutely not psychologically or legally prepared for that level of epistemic chaos.
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#2
Probably some kind of modern day Great Depression.
onlyontuesdays77:
Between US debt, the collapsing populations of major manufacturing powers like China, and scarcity of non-renewable resources, there is a good possibility of this in the next decade and it's an inevitability by 2050.
#3
Large areas of the planet will run out of water and the water wars will begin.
ChickenMarsala4500:
Water scarcity is already a problem in a lot of places, and we've mostly been ignoring it. It is going to get worse.
#4
Loss of entry level jobs...that's what's scary. If you fall on hard times you can pick up extra work but it'll get harder.
#5
In like less than a year you’re going to start hearing about famine because nitrogen fertilizer largely passes to Asia via the straits of Hormuz. Less fertilizer in Asia means more crop failures, more famines, less food. Food prices rise in Asia they rise everywhere.
#6
The concentration of wealth. Never, in the entire history of the world, have so few controlled so much. And it's getting worse every day.
General Anaesthesia 1 hour ago
But let's not tax billionaires because I could be one tomorrow.
#7
In ten years we will probably lose ALL the kelp on the west coast of North America. Right now the kelp is only 5% of baseline, but nobody recognizes the problem because it is underwater. The ocean keeps getting hotter, too.
#8
Massive slowing in scientific research, then a resurgence. Or a major shift in where the majority of scientific research is conducted.
People seriously underestimate how much the US government supported science, and now that's been severely hampered. NCBI and a lot of other resources are globally used by scientists, and a lot of conversation science is in the US. The administration has cut a lot of funding to everything from cancer treatments to a gigantic women's health study.
The European Union has strong scientific support, but not quite the same infrastructure the US has built up. The political environment also makes it questionable how much support there is to build it up.
China is hungry for scientific and technological knowledge, so it may gobble up researchers.
#9
The absolute collapse of white collar jobs sectors, which will lead to an exodus to blue collar sectors, depressing wages there as well.
It's going to be a new AI-caused Great Depression, but worse, because the only way out is a transition to a post-jobs economy. And no government in the world knows how to do that. It's unprecedented. Plus they won't understand they need to until years of suffering force the issue.
#11
The eldercare crisis.
Boomers are going to start hitting their mid-80s over the next decade. That's roughly when the odds of needing significant daily assistance start spiking.
The problem is that there aren't enough caregivers and a lot of families can't afford the care that's available. The pay is [low] so home health workers are already in short supply, nursing homes can cost six figures a year, and Medicare doesn't cover long-term custodial care.
Over the next 10 years, millions of Millennials and Gen-Xers are going to find themselves choosing between becoming caregivers, quitting their jobs, or watching their and their parents' savings disappear.
StrangeOne 2 hours ago
They better start taking real good care of themselves so they can live on their own longer.
#12
People are going to start fighting against the concentration of capital in very few hands.
#13
Not really ignoring, but I feel it's flying under the radar. The world's supply of Helium is dwindling rapidly. I work in an industry that uses a loads of He and we've been told to retrofit devices that use He to H2. So far it's not going so well.
StrangeOne 2 hours ago
There should be a ban on unnecessary helium usage. No more floating balloons.
#14
Video evidence being unable to be used in court.
StrangeOne 2 hours ago
I don't think that will be the case. I predict there will be more innocent people going to jail based on convincing AI footage.
#15
People may be able to regrow missing teeth.
#16
Antibiotic resistant bacteria will become a major global health crisis.
#17
Use of AI will create depression levels of unemployment because we have no plan.
#18
World War III.
The crazy thing is we might be on the cusp already or in the starting phases. Remember no one involved in WWI and II knew in the beginning it was a World War right away.
StrangeOne 2 hours ago
I feel like things are starting to stabilize and countries are working hard to work together to avoid military wars. Except for the USA. They seem pretty war hungry lately. It's only a matter of time before another country strikes the USA out of retaliation.
#19
Social Security is going to be massively cut if not entirely obliterated. Congress has cumulatively ~~stolen~~ ‘borrowed’ about 3 TRILLION dollars from the account and played an intra-governmental treasury bond shell game with the repayment plan and (ahem) *redeeming* the bonds when it needs to pay benefits.
In the US in about 2032-2033 we’re going to see almost 100m people get to take a bite out of the sandwich our elected representatives have made for us.
#20
A massive cardiovascular health crisis from all the people chugging energy drinks.
#21
Pollinator deficits causing en masse crop failures.
Zealousideal_Pay2128:
I was going to say famine. Partly from lack of pollinators, and partly from reduced crop outputs due to climate change. There is going to be a reduced wheat crop this year in the US due to the ongoing drought. Could be a preview of what's to come.
#22
The Amoc collapsing.
Jeramy_Jones:
This should probably be the top answer.
When people hear “climate change” or the more antiquated “global warming” they don’t realize it’s not just gonna be warmer weather.
Destabilization of that current can cause all kinds of damage, both cold and hot weather, storms and stagnation in ocean waters. It’s a looming catastrophe what will change everything we know.
StrangeOne 2 hours ago
Winters sure have not been the same as they were back in the 20th century. Late first snowfalls. Melting snow and ice in February, followed by deep chiils in March to April, then yo-yoing spring and winter weather into late May. Then the hot summer weather starts in June. The prairies are seeing more severe thunderstorms producing tornadoes. .
#23
In America, lots and lots of people are going to hit retirement age but be unable to retire. When they physically can't work anymore, and can't afford rent and insurance, we'll have a massive problem on our hands.
Lil be lil 4 hours ago
My brother has this problem now! Lives in his car. But what if you don't have a car?
#24
There's going to be a truly abysmal natural disaster that makes that location uninhabitable. The gulf coast of the US, specifically Florida or Louisiana, are just waiting for it and with the extreme ocean temperatures happening right now... it could be any day now. To think otherwise is to rely on hopes and prayers.
StrangeOne 2 hours ago
I predict New Orleans and other coastal cities in the USA will see another catastrophic hurricane.
#25
Massive environmental collapse of entire ecosystems. I look at the forest behind my house. The average person would say it looks nice. But all the ash trees, the elms, the chestnuts, certain oaks, all destroyed by invasive species. Insects populations are massively decreased. Amphibians are getting scarce. There is only so much damage it can take before it falls apart and I think we are getting close.
#26
A lot of people in their 30s and 40s right now are never going to own a home. Like actually never. And the conversation is still being treated like it's a temporary problem that's about to fix itself.
StrangeOne 2 hours ago
It really depends on where they live. What were going to definitely see is more homeless people and ex homeowners going back to renting due to the shotty new home builds.
#27
As we continue to deprioritise doing anything about education in the US, our political division is going to get worse, not better.
Other countries have, as a class all to itself, education on spotting, recognising, and dealing with propaganda. It doesn’t work as well there, because everyone is looking out for it. In the US, we roll our eyes at the suggestion and continue pretending that the news can largely be trusted. Be that via mainstream media, or social media, or outlets on twitter. We all do it. We all see the headline and if it’s from what we consider a “good” source, we figure it’s probably mostly true.
Meanwhile we have spent so long lambasting mainstream media, and cutting their budgets, they are effectively useless now. They are either MASSIVELY one sided, or so terrified of not being neutral that they can’t report on facts. And it doesn’t matter anyway because the budgets have all been cut so far that there is no actually investigation happening anymore anyway. The network news broadcasts these days are 5 min of “top stories” whereby they read press releases to us, followed by 15 min of whatever is trending on r/videos that day.
We are getting dumber and less informed by the minute, and we are all ignoring it. We are falling farther and farther into camps and just blaming all of the world’s ills on the other side.
Tom Hardeveld 2 hours ago
Idiocracy wasn't a comedy, it was a warning and now it feels like a documantary
#28
China will invade Taiwan and it will test/strain the resolve of Western alliances even more.
Edit: I don't think it will be a full scale Normandy-like invasion. It's much more likely that China will pull something similar to what USA did to Venezuela combined with the Hong-Kong playbook, i.e. send some special operations guys in the middle of the night, arrest the cabinet, make up some criminality, install a puppet government much more open to diplomatic talks, then before you know it you have a "diplomatic" victory for China.
#30
The Social Security fund is expected to be fully depleted in 2032.
Barring legislative changes, which are hard in modern politics, there will be significant drops in benefits for lots of people.
#31
God this thread is so bleak. As expected. This site is full of sad doomers living in existential dread. How about some positives??
Most experts agree that Quantum Computers will take a Great Leap Forward in the next few years, with the government actively preparing their encryption to be “Quantum Resistant” in the next few years. Sounds terrifying, yes? But the cool thing about quantum computers is they will likely change life for the better assuming proper safeguards are enacted (actively happening now as I said). For example, quantum computers have the ability to simulate complex systems at a scale that is unthinkable for standard computers. People point to complex systems like say the climate of the planet, the human body, and advanced materials. What does this mean in 10 years? It means that using these new tools we could take *massive* leaps forward in things like advanced materials manufacturing, drug/therapy design, and weather prediction and climate change intervention. These are things that could actively improve *your* life in the next 10-15 years. Add in things like AI, CRISPR/gene editing, advances in robotics and we could genuinely see a leap forward in treating all kinds of common maladies-genetic diseases, organ/knee replacements, Alzheimer’s… there is SO much hope out there if you seek it out.
Another one that is underrated imo are advances in energy production/storage. There is a HUGE push currently happening to develop better batteries, and more of them. Solar energy production is crushing previous estimates, nuclear fission reactors are coming back safer/smaller than ever before while still being massively efficient and clean compared to old fossil fuels. Fusion is still being researched but I don’t think we see it in 10 years. Energy production/storage is the baseline of everything in your life. It effects the cost of everything on top of it. Any advances here make their way up through the economy- the phone in your pocket, the car you drive, the truck that delivers your groceries.
This one might get some pushback because of the characters involved- but I think a lot of the rocketry stuff happening right now is really, really cool. Starlink and other satellite communications networks are bringing more people online than ever before in remote areas. Reuseable rockets are plummeting cost to launch and within the next couple years SpaceX will likely be launching their next generation heavy lift rocket Starship. Most estimates expect this to reduce launch costs per kg of cargo by an order of magnitude. Such a reduction will have us looking at launches as less as a boondoggle/extravagance and more of a utility. In the next 10 years we could see more launches, which opens the door to a more robust satellite communications network, exploration/scientific projects, etc.
#32
Incredible events that will benefit the rich and be devastating to the poor but will be disguised as cultural topics for us to fight each other over.
#33
The Grand Canyon will be dry. Likely by 2027 sometime. The Colorado River watershed is depleting because of overusage (looking at you AZ, with your beef and dairy industry), and all those farms will go bankrupt. We should move them now before it's too late.
#35
A massive mental health crisis unlike anything we've seen. An entire generation raised on screens, isolated, overstimulated, and emotionally malnourished and we're just waiting to see how that plays out.
#36
Mass wet bulb disaster.
StoreSearcher1234:
Heat combined with very high humidity that prevents sweat from evaporating so heat is no longer pulled from the skin. When that happens millions start passing away from heatstroke and millions more start to mass-migrate north.
#37
Mass surveillance.
Lil be lil 4 hours ago (edited)
Already happening. In the US. Not as pervasive as China but happening. DHS citizen informants. See something say something. License plate readers. Cameras everywhere and in every police vehicle the box that checks you in an instant.
#39
Honestly, looking at things the way they are: mass civil unrest.
Governments have done their damnedest to under-educate the populous and the Internet and media have told everyone how easy it is fix problems.
People are getting angrier because their lives haven't improved immeasurably and in fact have gone the other way.
Keep lying and people will get angry. Farage in Britain will find out when he can't deliver and the U.S is on the way already.
People with nothing to lose are the most dangerous kind.
#40
Food is still relatively cheap and available compared to almost all of human history. I would guess with bigger weather swings and corporate profits, food will be at least twice as expensive. I see good healthy fresh food being even more crazy like 2-3x.
#42
The conversation around Universal Basic Income is becoming more and more interesting, especially as AI becomes smarter and smarter while the middle class is pretty much non-existent right now.
I think in 10 years we'll probably see SOMETHING to the effect of, "AI is trained off of your data, here's your royalty check," or, "here's $1000 a month, government funded and tax free, because this is somehow better than making big corporations pay people more."
But yeah, I think the concept of "working for money" is gonna shift regardless.
#43
I’m getting depressed just reading all this. I’m gonna give it a break. I think about these things a lot but right now something I’m very concerned about is the fact that wages are hardly going up at all yet the cost of everything is skyrocketing and this is having a massive effect on peoples lives. I don’t know why more people aren’t talking about this. The prices is in the grocery store terrify me sometimes. And what’s even worse is eating out having a nice dinner now the food isn’t so good. The price is three times as much so people aren’t going out and everything‘s changed. Everyone’s lives have just gone downhill in my opinion well except for the few they’ve got loads of money. Rant over.
#44
Surprised no one has mentioned this, but look at the state of US politics and the economy as a whole. The top 10% of income earners in the United States account for about 50% of consumer spending. The US is on track to surpass $39 trillion in debt. Interest rates are creeping up (along with treasury yields) due to loss of confidence in the ability for the US government to pay its debt obligations (because we don't tax the wealthy their fair share to fund government). There will be a default on US debt (due to interest rates going up) in the medium to long term. Then, we will see a scaling back / steep cuts of programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. Then we will see sizable civil unrest. Then, we will see a loss of confidence in institutions, such as the IRS, DoJ, and the judiciary. Finally, we will see a collapse and balkanization of the states. This will happen. Our trajectory is already headed that way. And this goes all the way back to Nixon and Reagan. When big business started to consolidate wealth and power, when they started to go after unions, consolidate companies, scale back regulations, and run up the debt due to forever wars in the Middle East, that's what has led us to this moment. The Republic will fail. And countries like Russia and China will consolidate more power in their respective regions. Expect China to go after Taiwan once the US starts to collapse. Expect Russia to take another swing at Ukraine as well.
#45
"Q-Day" (The Quantum Threat): As quantum computers advance, they will eventually be able to crack the encryption that currently protects global banking, government secrets, and private data. We are facing a massive, silent race to rewrite the internet’s security before it becomes transparent to hackers.
AI-Driven Cyber Warfare: While people worry about AI "taking over," the immediate threat is AI being used to find and exploit software bugs in critical infrastructure (power grids, water systems) at a speed no human programmer can defend against.
The Care Collapse: Global populations are aging faster than birth rates can keep up. This will lead to a desperate shortage of healthcare workers and a "loneliness epidemic" that will strain economies and social structures more than current political issues.
#46
Climate emergency to the point that airplane manufacturers are modeling what kind of storms are going to be coming and how they are going to have to change how planes are built because of this. The person who reported this on Twitter is an employee of a major airline in their scientific research division. This person said they were crying when they modeled what was coming.
I don't think people realize truly that danger and extent of the climate emergency.
Nuclear warfare. If you looked at how old and antiquated these missile launch silos are and how no one is tending to them anymore, you would start to cry like I did.
Food scarcities. We already have it because of the climate crisis and so many other things
Water. The CEO of Nestlé doesn't believe that water is a human right. He wants to privatize water all over the United States and make it not free for us to drink and he's making a lot of headway towards meeting his goal..
#48
The boomers are passing away, all their real estate will flood the market and housing prices will crash as a result. Gonna be a buyers market. Millenials will also be on the receiving end of all that pent up wealth accumulated by the boomers.
Lost Panda 1 hour ago
Sadly, no. Before the people get a chance to get it, the corporations will take their "fair" share
#52
Idiocracy was apparently an inevitable prophecy for our future.
This will become more evident into the future.
Art imitating life or life imitating art?
#55
A major video game industry collapse. Almost ALL 3rd party studios are burning down even as we speak (Ubisoft, etc.). Stuff is going up in price and people just aren't buying it.
Though titans like Nintendo and Microsoft aren't going anywhere, all the old mortal kings like Blizzard, Bethesda and Ubisoft are not long for this world.
#56
Some countries/rogue actors are going to start blocking out the sun with stratospheric sulfate aerosols in order to moderate the effects of global warming. Future generations won’t be able to see things like auroras, shooting stars, eclipses and comets passing by earth with home telescopes. If it gets bad enough we won’t be able to see constellations at night, or at least not be able to see them as clearly.
#57
AI runs up costs so that companies cannot afford real employees.
They start giving up parts of the company to the AI company.
Soon AI companies own and run most businesses.
#58
Preservation of pre-ai physical media.
We are already technically in a time where we cannot guarantee a film, album, show etc is entirely human-made.
The only way we would know for sure is if it was created before ai.. but even then.. it could have been altered, and we wouldn't know if it's the original version or not unless we had the physical copy.
#59
Ocean Waters Rising. Most of the beaches you lay out on now, Will be underwater, and the water will be much closer to hotels and buildings.
Tom Hardeveld 2 hours ago
you worry about beaches? If the rising continues as it does children 50 years from now will know about florida and the coast of europe from history books only
#62
Anonymity on the internet will go away as it will be important to differentiate between a human and AI. The need to personally identify everyone will cause the right to have conniption fits but I don’t see an alternative.
#63
Keenan Thompson will leave SNL.
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